


Me Without You

by RoyallyJeleanor



Category: The Royals (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, song prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6749317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoyallyJeleanor/pseuds/RoyallyJeleanor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: A Jeleanor fic based on Ashley Tisdale’s song ‘Me Without You’.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Me Without You

**Author's Note:**

> Situation: It’s been 2 months since King Simon’s death and in that time Eleanor has gone off the rails a bit to try and ignore the pain she is feeling. She spent some time with Beck before realising he was never going to leave his wife for her and so she has now cut all ties with him. Jasper is Liam’s bodyguard and while she and he haven’t spoken much he has always been around, there for her if she needed him. (As hinted in the Season 2 cast interviews.)

Eleanor looked around her slowly, her glassy eyes surveying the people surrounding her. King Cyrus and the Queen sat at the front of the room beside the priest who was conducting the service in honor of her father, both of their expression showing a severe lack of interest in the proceedings. Eleanor knew that today was simply another excuse for her mother to throw another overly decadent party, she didn’t care about honoring her late husband and instead she was regularly using his death as an excuse for her to have fun.

Blanching in disgust Eleanor had to turn away and instead she found herself facing the seats where hundreds of members of the public were gathered to pay their respects. Unsurprisingly they seemed to show more emotion than her mother, most of them gently sobbing.

As Eleanor looked across the audience she felt bitterness rise in her throat like bile as tears pricked the back of her eyes. These people got to leave this service today and move on with their lives, only occasionally remembering their dearly loved king who was taken too soon. Not Eleanor however. No, she had to live with her pain every day.

She’d tried to block it out with drugs, drink and partying but eventually it had all become too much and the pain had managed to break through her walls, the agony filling her heart. Now she didn’t know how to continue as it flooded through her.

Eleanor didn’t even realise that the service had ended, the moisture filling her eyes making her vision blurred as the rush of her blood through her ears blocked out the Priest’s voice. It was Liam’s hand resting gently on her arm, urging her to stand up that forced her from her thoughts. Standing up quickly she mumbled some excuse before striding across the room and out of the door, ignoring her mother’s demands for her to stay to say goodbye to the well-wishers.

The walk back to her room from the Palace Chapel seemed to take years, her feet dragging along the floor as she tried to focus on keeping the tears at bay. As she stood in the middle of her room she felt her shoulders slouch as her bag dropped to the floor through her limp fingers. She was so consumed by the ache that filled her chest that she didn’t even hear the doors close behind her.

‘Are you okay?’ Eleanor heard Jasper’s voice from behind her and immediately felt herself tense.

Trying to blink away the tears she nodded her head, ‘I’m fine.’

Stiffening she heard Jasper take a few steps her until he was just behind her, ‘ **It's just you and me and there's no one around** ,’ he murmured, ‘you can be honest with me.’

Despite her best protests Eleanor felt a hot tear streak down her face, ‘ **I feel like I'm hanging by a thread** ,’ she murmured as more tears followed. **It's a long way down.**

Jasper felt his heart tug as Eleanor let out a sob. Although she was trying to fight it Jasper knew that she had been in intense pain for a long time and finally she might let him try to help her.

‘Hey, I’m here,’ he told her sincerely, reaching out to turn her around so that he could wrap his arms around her supportively. He let out a small sigh of relief when she didn’t push him away and instead rested her head on his chest, her tears dampening his shirt.

As she felt Jasper’s warm arms wrap around her Eleanor finally felt the huge sobs starting to die down and she gasped, desperately trying to draw in air to try and steady her ragged breathing.

‘ **It’s like I've been trying to breathe, but I'm fighting for air** ,’ Eleanor whispered when the sobbing stopped. ‘ **I'm at an all-time low**.’

‘You’re allowed to be upset, your father has died! You don’t have to try and hold it all in,’ Jasper told her, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her forehead.

Although it was a simple gesture Eleanor felt her heart skip. She was so focused on her tears that she hadn’t even thought about why Jasper had followed her or why he was trying to calm her now, what did it matter to him anymore?

‘You’re not my bodyguard anymore, you don’t need to help me,’ Eleanor muttered, her brows furrowed in confusion. ‘ **But you're always there**.’ Her mind whirring Eleanor thought back to all the other times where she had started to unravel, like after her fashion show, and every time Jasper had been there.

**When everything falls apart and it seems like the world is crashing at my feet**

‘I might not be your bodyguard anymore but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. I’ve watched you battle with your pain for weeks, trying to mask it, but I didn’t want to intervene until you needed someone. Until you let it out,’ Jasper told her quietly.

‘ **You like me the best when I'm a mess** ,’ Eleanor whispered, surprised that Jasper had been so aware of her feelings. ‘It’s ironic because no one else likes me like this.’

‘When you’re a mess you’re being honest with yourself instead of trying to cover your feelings, it shows you’re human.’ Jasper replied, ‘no one can keep it together all the time. If you need to be a mess for a while in order to get stronger then that’s what you have to do, not matter what anyone else thinks.’

As Jasper reached out to move a stray strand of hair from her face she closed her eyes briefly. **When I'm my own worst enemy you make me feel beautiful**. Somehow Jasper had a way of making her feel special no matter what she looked like, even when she had just woken up and her hair and makeup were a mess. It didn’t seem to bother him.

As Eleanor stared up into his beautiful blue eyes she saw the sincerity there and she suddenly realised something. All this time she had been trying to fight things on her own, scared to fall when there was someone waiting to catch her all along. ‘ **When I have nothing left to prove and I can't imagine how I'd make it through** ,’ she started before pausing, adding the next part in her head, too scared to say it out loud. **There's no me without you.**

When he heard Eleanor’s tentative whisper he couldn’t believe that she was being so open with him, especially after months of barely speaking. However, once she was near him all of his feelings came flooding back with a vengeance and he knew that there was no way he could leave her when she was this upset.

Looking down at her he saw her shoulders slouch again and felt the way she leant some of her weight against him. ‘Come here; lay down for a bit and rest. The Queen can manage without you,’ he murmured, nudging for Eleanor to lie on her bed.

Glancing up at him briefly Eleanor smirked slightly, ‘ **You hear what I say when I don't say a word**.’ As she pulled herself onto the bed she indicated for Jasper to join her, not wanting him to leave.

**You are my rising sun, You're the place I run.**

After a moment of trepidation Jasper gave in and moved to lie down beside her, allowing Eleanor to rest her head on his chest, something she had never done before. As she did so he instinctively relaxed, **‘I know how it hurts** , if you want to let it out you can.’

‘What if it’s like this forever?’ Eleanor asked quietly.

**‘Baby, it's gonna get better** ,’ Jasper told her sincerely, turning her head to face him so that could meet her gaze ‘it’ll just take time.’

The second Jasper spoke Eleanor instinctively believed him and she felt instantly reassured.

‘If you could only see yourself how I see you, you would know that you’re strong enough to overcome anything,’ Jasper added, making her blush slightly.

**With my imperfections you think I'm perfect.** Eleanor was surprised at his gentle tone, how much he seemed to care and part of her wished that she had allowed herself to turn to him sooner. She had spent so much time running from her feelings and now she was didn’t know what to do with them.

‘ **When it's not easy you make it worth it** ,’ Eleanor thought to herself, reaching out so that one of her hands rested lightly on his chest, her fingers dancing across his shirt.

‘Thankyou for being here,’ Eleanor whispered, pushing past her pride for a moment.

‘You don’t have to thank me. After everything I’ve put you through the least I can do is try and help you,’ Jasper muttered.

‘So that’s why you’re here? To settle your guilt?’ Eleanor asked, trying to keep the hurt from her voice.

‘I’m here because I can’t stay away from you anymore. I miss you and I can’t bear to see you upset. I’m not going anywhere until you push me away,’ Jasper told her quietly, surprised to find himself so shy. ‘ **There’s no me without you** Princess,’ he added, meeting her gaze so that he could read her reaction.

‘That’s good, because there’s **No me without you** either,’ Eleanor whispered, propping herself up on her elbow so that she could lean over and cover his mouth with hers. ‘You were right, I need you and I’ve only just realised how much,’ she whispered when they separated for air.

‘I think it’s me that needs you Eleanor,’ Jasper drawled as he reached out to pull her closer as he pressed his lips back against hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Royals or any of the characters or the song. Please do not steal this work.  
> P.S. this was the first time I have done a song prompt where I have used the song lyrics as dialogue so I would love to know what you think!


End file.
